How To Look Airbrushed In Real Life

These high-tech products can create the illusion of perfect skin.

Concealers and foundations are meant to hide skin’s imperfections, but many of them end up highlighting the problem instead. Now, more and more products claim to be able to mask issues like redness and fine lines by using light-reflecting ingredients. The latest light reflector on the block, Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder ($45, sephora.com), makes similar promises and had me curious to learn more about the technology behind such products.

The line of powders, which are each created to address a particular concern, whether it be redness, uneven skin tone or dullness, use optically transparent particles to refract light so the particles glow, thus camouflaging skin’s imperfections. Sound high-tech? The military has experimented with a similar light-reflecting strategy for the camouflage patterns they choose.

More Products That Use LightIt Cosmetics Hello Light Powder Illuminizer ($24, itcosmetics.com) uses micronized, light-reflecting pigments in its formula to blur the look of pores and fine lines so they’re less noticeable.